Make You Mine
by Zetsubouaichan
Summary: Sakura was devastated when she had to quit cheerleading after an injury. When Eriol suggested her to take the position as the football club manager, she agreed. But the football captain, Li Syaoran, will not approve to have her as their manager and he doesn't plan to make her job any easier.
1. The Football Club

**Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura isn't mine.**

Sakura was devastated when she had to quit cheerleading after an injury. When Eriol suggested her to take the position as the football club manager, she agreed. But the football captain, Li Syaoran, will not approve to have her as their manager and he doesn't plan to make her job any easier. (AU, Slight OOC, I think)

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**Make You Mine  
Chapter 1: The Football Club**

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Sakura must have dozed off in the classroom while she was waiting for Tomoyo. When she opened up her eyes, she found a pair of brown eyes looking back at her. Sakura sat up straight and attempted to wipe the corner of her mouth with her sleeves. "Chiharu?"

"What are you doing here?" Chiharu asked. "Aren't you going back home?"

"I am. I was waiting for Tomoyo. She's practicing for the competition with Eriol. But, she made me promise that we would head home together when she's done," she stretched up her body and stifled a yawn. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm taking a break," Chiharu said. "I've been hiding myself away from the team for a while. They're driving me crazy."

"Oh," Sakura giggled. She gave Chiharu a look over and noticed that she was dressed in her cheerleading uniform. A sudden longing to wear the uniform and practice along with the other team member came over.

It has been about two months since she quit cheerleading. She had been diagnosed with an ankle injury almost six months ago and the doctor had advised her to quit cheerleading. If she continues to stay in the squad, she might irritate her injury from the strenuous routine. It was a heavy decision to leave the team. She loved cheerleading and she was great at it. She has been on the cheerleading squad for a long time and had just made it as the captain before she quit.

"Are you alright?" Chiharu asked.

"Yeah. I'm just missing cheerleading with you girls," she admitted.

Chiharu gave her a small smile. "We missed you a lot too. Why don't you come over to practice and see how the girls do? We could use some of your advice, captain."

"I'm no longer the captain of the cheerleading squad when I decided to quit," she pointed out. "I have appointed you the squad's captain, remember?"

"True. But you will always be our captain, Sakura," Chiharu said and sighed. "Leading the team was harder than I thought. I wish you didn't have to leave the team."

"I wish I didn't have to leave too," Sakura said and smiled. "You're a good captain, Chiharu. You just need some times to adjust yourself to your new position."

Chiharu shrugged. "I never thought that I would someday make as the captain. I always thought that you're going to lead the team until we graduate." Chiharu glanced towards her wristwatch and pouted. "I've got to run now. Do you want to come and see the squad for a while? I'm sure the girls would love to see you."

Sakura shook her head. "No. Tomoyo might be here soon. She'll be worried if she couldn't find me. Maybe next time?"

Chiharu smiled. "You'll be alright?"

She nodded. "I'll be alright."

Sakura watched as Chiharu disappeared behind the door. After a while, she stood up and walked towards the window. She could see the field from there and saw that a few of the others had been on the field to practice. Her gaze went towards the left corner of the field where the cheerleading squad was having their practice.

She missed that. Her friends, the routines and even the pom-poms. But she knew very well that there is no way that she can join them. The doctor had advised her to rest, and she's planning to do just that.

Sakura snapped out of her trance when she heard Tomoyo's voice from the hall. She went towards her seat, picked up a book and pretended that she was reading.

"Sakura?" Tomoyo greeted as she slid the door open. "Oh, good. You're still here. What are you reading?" she peeked at the book and raised a brow. "You do realize that you're reading the book upside down."

Sakura glanced at her book. "Maybe I was practicing to read them upside down." She closed the book and shoved it into her bag. "So, How's your practice?" Sakura said with a smile. Then she noticed the silhouette behind Tomoyo. "Oh, hi, Eriol-kun."

"Hi, Sakura," Eriol held up a hand to greet her back and closed the door behind him.

"The practice's fine, as usual," Tomoyo said. She started to pack her bag and gasped.

"What's wrong?" Eriol asked.

Tomoyo held a stack of paper in her hand. "I forgot that I was supposed to pass these papers to Miss Inaba." She gave Sakura an apologetic smile. "Would it be alright if I make a—"

"Just go," Sakura waved her hand and smiled. "I'll wait here."

Tomoyo heaved a sigh. She gave Sakura a tight hug and made a dash to see her teacher.

"How are you?" Eriol asked when they were alone.

"The usual. My ankle feels better after a lot of rest." She turned her gaze towards the window. "The doctor said that it's better if I quit the cheerleading squad. And I did. But I feel suffocated of how the other worries about me."

"They love you," Eriol pointed out.

"I know. I am grateful to know that they care so much about me. But, I don't want them to worry too much." she smiled. "I wonder if it's not too late for me to join with other club. It might be a good chance for me to move on and show everyone that I'm fine."

Eriol pulled a chair and sat before her. "What do you have in mind? Maybe I can help."

"Help me how?"

"I'm with the student council, remember? Maybe I can figure out something for you." Eriol said.

"Hmm," Sakura replied him with a shrug. "I'd like to join the trekking team or the volleyball team. I mean, I know that I'm good with sports, but we both know that joining them is impossible." She forced a laugh. "Maybe I should join the cooking club. Or the drama cub."

"Hmm... you are good with sports." Eriol said absentmindedly. He took off his glasses, squinted at them against the light and put it back on. "I know. How do you feel about joining the football club?"

Sakura stared at him incredulously. "The football club?"

He nodded. "The football club."

Sakura frowned. "But... I can't join the football club. I mean, my feet..."

"No. Not as a player," he cut her before she finished. "But as a manager for the football club."

"Manager? For the football club?" Sakura repeated.

"I happen to know that Terada-sensei was looking for someone to help him with managing the football team. I could recommend you to him if you're interested in the position." Eriol stood up and headed for the windows. He motioned for Sakura to come. "It won't be easy though," he paused and pointed towards the field, where a small group of boys were practicing with kicking balls. "The football club is in a deep trouble since the members weren't really disciplined and more of the members are quitting. If they didn't have enough members by next month, they'll have to disband. "

Sakura continued to watch the football club practicing on the field. She noticed that half of them were lazing around. "I'll be surrounded by boys."

Eriol nodded. "True. If you're not comfortable with that, you can forget that I've said anything to you about this."

"So," Sakura spoke after a brief silence between them. "If I agree to this, what do I have to do as a manager?"

"I imagine that you will be cheering for the team and doing odd jobs for them," Eriol shrugged. "I'm not really sure. You will have to consult to Terada-sensei to have the full details. You don't have to answer right away. You can take a few days to think of this offer. If you decide to accept or reject this offer, just let me know."

"I'm curious," Sakura squinted to Eriol. "Of all the clubs available in school, why would you propose to me this position?"

Eriol replied her with a smile. "Because I think you'll be good at it."

"Me?"

"Of course. You're with the cheerleading team."

Sakura looked at him with puzzle. "I was with the cheerleading team. But what does that has got to do with the position as the manager for the football club? You'll have to elaborate, Eriol."

Eriol laughed softly at her expression. "One of the task as the manager is to cheer for the team. That's why I think you'll be good at it. And you're the captain for the cheerleading team. You're used to observe the other team members and write down the members' strengths and weaknesses. You can do the same for the football team."

"Okay," Sakura nodded. She gazed towards the team on the field. "Is it alright if I give this position a tryout? You know, to see if it suits me or no."

**xxx**

"Oh," Terada gaze fell upon Sakura once Eriol had brief him on the manager position. "You want to give the position a tryout?"

Sakura nodded. "If that's alright with you, yes."

"That's great," Terada said with a smile. "I've been asking around for volunteer for this job, but no one wanted to work with the football team. At this rate, I can't complain if you would agree to help me for a brief time, as a temporary manager, maybe?"

Sakura exchanged a look with Tomoyo. She wondered for a moment, why no one would be willing to accept the position as the manager.

"But don't worry," Terada said, sensing her fear. "The guys from the football team are all good guys. They're just... not very popular among the students." He laughed. "Do you know anything about football?"

Sakura shook her head. "Not really. I do watch the games on TV, but I'm afraid that I didn't know much about the game."

"That's okay," Terada nodded. "You'll learn more about football soon. And I'll give you a crash course, when you decided to become a permanent manager for the club."

"So, what exactly do I have to do as a manager?" Sakura asked.

"Basically, a manager will be doing some odd jobs for the team so that they can concentrate on their practice." Terada-sensei told her. "You'll be supporting the team and cheering them. I'll be grateful if you agree to help me. I have too much work here and I can't be around those boys every day to make sure they're practicing. So, what do you say?"

**xxx**

The minute Eriol took her to the field to introduce her to the captain; Sakura finally understood why no one wanted the position as the football club's manager. To work as the manager, she had to work with Li Syaoran. It's not like she had anything against him. After all, he was in the same class as her. But Syaoran was famous for his social skill. Despite his good look, he never really talked to anyone in the class, other than to Yamazaki. Most of the girls are scared of him and the boys would think of him as a stuck up.

Sakura unconsciously balled her hand into a fist when Eriol went towards Syaoran to talk to him. Suddenly, she was nervous. She could guess what Syaoran's reaction will be when Eriol introduced her as the temporary manager.

"Are you kidding me, Hiiragizawa?" Syaoran's voice boomed. "I don't need a manager to manage this club."

"That's not for you to decide,"Eriol's voice was calm as compared to Syaoran's.

"You may not need a manager. But the club needs a manager, and Terada-sensei need an assistant to help him with the club. He can't be the advisor, the coach and the manager at the same time. And this is actually his idea to recruit a manager for the football club."

"Really? Are you sure this is not your idea to coax your girlfriend to get into her pants?" Syaoran spat. "Because I can assure you that it won't work."

Sakura made a face. "Um... wait," she glanced to Eriol and then, Syaoran. "I'm not his girlfriend."

Both Syaoran and Eriol turned to her with a grimace.

"Listen Li," Eriol said with a sigh. "We both know that your club is in a deep trouble. You guys haven't won any game since last year. More and more members are pulling out of the club, and soon enough, there won't be enough members left. You need someone to help you with this club. Because you can't do this alone." he paused to pull her closer towards them. "Sakura is the perfect candidate as the manager."

Syaoran glanced towards her. "Do you know anything about football?" he turned to Eriol. "I bet she knew nothing about football."

"I can learn," Sakura said.

Eriol nodded. "She can learn," He turned to Syaoran with a smile. "But, you don't have to worry about that. Terada-sensei agreed to give Sakura a tryout for a month. If you don't think that she's qualified for the position, you can tell that to Terada-sensei after the probation period is over."

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**End of Chapter 1: The Football Club**

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If you have read my profile on, you may notice that I've said that Worth Fighting For will be the last chapters fanfiction I'm going to write. But I always wanted to write Sakura and Syaoran in high school. And I wanted to write something lighter than WFF. So, here it is. I don't know how this story will go on, but, I'd like to give this a try.

Please review and tell me what you think.

Credits to Kirarin for the cover.


	2. Welcome to the Club, Manager

**Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura isn't mine.**

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**Make You Mine  
Chapter 2: Welcome to the Club, Manager.**

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Sakura straightened her body when she felt like someone was watching her. She looked around and noticed that Syaoran was watching her with a piercing gaze. She had a goosebump when their gaze met. Swiftly, she turned around to avoid him. She slipped in behind a few students to duck him.

If only she knew that Li Syaoran was the captain of the football club, she probably wouldn't agree to Eriol's offer. Maybe she shouldn't be making her decision rashly. Maybe what she should do was to take a few days to think over Eriol's offer before giving her decision. Perhaps she should make a quick investigation on the football club first before she agreed to become the temporary manager. She wondered if it was too late to quit the position. She did tell Terada-sensei that she will be at least stay in the club until the recruitment period.

"Are you alright?"

Sakura looked up to meet with Tomoyo's gaze. She laughed nervously, knowing how ridiculous she might look right now. "I'm alright," she stood up and brushed the nonexistence dirt on her skirt. "I was just trying to avoid Li. He has been giving me this look ever since I signed up as the club manager."

Tomoyo stifled a laugh. "Is it really bad?"

Sakura sighed. "I'm now conscious of everything I do because he's sitting right behind me. I could feel that he has been staring at me the whole time we're in class."

"You know," Tomoyo spoke. "It's not too late for you to quit. You can tell Terada-sensei that you weren't comfortable working with Li. I'm sure he would understand."

"I know," Sakura smiled. She knew how worried Tomoyo was when she suddenly announced that she wanted to apply as the manager for the football club. "But I want to give this a try. I have too much free time now that I'm not with the cheerleading squad."

Tomoyo sat down on a bench and began to unwrap her lunch. "I'm happy you're trying to join other activity again. But, don't push yourself too hard, alright?" She watched Sakura nodded and continued. "What does your father thinks about this?"

"He thinks it's great. He looks ecstatic when I told him that I signed up," She poked on an eggroll. "And Touya thinks that it was a great idea. At least, I would stop sulking about having to quit cheerleading."

Tomoyo raised a brow. "Touya's fine with it?"

"Well," Sakura smiled mischievously. "He was under the impression that this school had an all-girls football team."

Tomoyo laughed. She wondered what Touya will do when he found out that the school doesn't have an all-girl football team. Tomoyo was sure that he'd be furious. After all, Touya was always worried when his sister mingled with an opposite gender.

"Please keep this a secret from Touya," Sakura said. "He'll be livid once he found out."

"He's going to find out about it eventually," Tomoyo pointed out.

"I know. But in the meantime, I prefer that he wouldn't know about it. After all," she shrugged. "This position is temporary."

Tomoyo studied Sakura's face and saw her worry. "Don't worry too much about the club. I'm sure that everyone will welcome you. Well, maybe not Li," she saw her smile. "But I don't think Li can do anything about it when the other members won't mind about having you as their manager."

**xxx**

Tomoyo was right.

When Eriol, as the representative from the student council introduced her as the new manager for the football club, the members were ecstatic. After all, the football team was not a popular club in the school. Their school was more popular for its basketball and baseball team. So, having Sakura, an ex-cheerleading member as their member was refreshing.

"Will you be alright?" Eriol asked, as it was time for him to leave.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, sure," she paused when she felt another goosebumps. She turned around and noticed that Syaoran was giving her the look. If looks can kill, she would most definitely be dead by now.

Eriol turned to see what was bothering her. "Don't worry about him. He can't do anything to hurt you."

Sakura forced a smile. "I hope you're right."

"You should stick around and observe the team practicing first and wait until Terada-sensei come and brief you."

"I guess," she said with a shrug. "Thanks Eriol. For this. I really wasn't expecting that you would recommend me to apply as the football manager. But this is way much better than coming home early only to find my parents looking at me with pity."

Sakura watched Eriol disappeared from her eye shot and sat down under a tree. She wished that Eriol would stay with her a bit longer. It was awkward to be in a place out of her comfort zone. Sakura began to observe the team warming out. She counted that there were eight members presented and noticed right away that the team was lacking of members.

She looked around for Syaoran and found him staring at her. Sakura stood up immediately and walked towards him. She was tired with his constant unfriendly gaze. She was determined to find out what is it that he didn't like about her right here, right now. But once he noticed that she was heading his way, Syaoran dropped his gaze and pretended that he was studying some papers in his hand.

"What?" Syaoran said idly when she reached towards him.

Sakura scoffed when he didn't meet her gaze. She crossed her arms before her chest and tried to make him look at her. "Do you have something you'd like to say to me, Li?"

"No."

"Well then, would you please stop looking at me like that?"

He raised a brow, but didn't meet her gaze. "Like what?"

Sakura waved her hand in frustration. "Like you're upset with me. Did I do something that upset you?"

"Yes. When you signed up as the manager for this team."

Sakura stepped back. Her tongue tied. She didn't expect that he would be so blunt about it.

"What are you doing here? Just go back to your cheerleading routine and leave us alone, Kinomoto."

Sakura took a breath to calm down. "In case you haven't heard, I have to quit the team after my ankle injury. I can't go back to the cheerleading team."

Syaoran replied her with a shrug. "That's not my problem."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. She didn't like his attitude right now. "Does it really bother you that I applied as the team's manager?"

"Yes."

She knew that he's not a sociable person, but Sakura hadn't expected that he would answer her like he was really disinterested. "Why?"

"You're annoying."

Sakura blinked, twice. "Excuse me. What did you just say?"

"You know nothing about football," Syaoran said with a sigh.

Sakura looked at him skeptically. She was sure that that was not what he had said to her earlier. "Well. I can learn," Sakura said. "Besides, Terada-sensei said that it isn't a requirement. I'm just here to help with trivial things so that you guys can focus on practicing."

"I can manage the club just fine without your help," Syaoran said. "Or any other manager."

"Is that so?" Sakura raised a brow as if to challenge him. "Is that why you have been standing here," she paused to peek at the papers in his hand and failed, "pretending to read some papers instead of warming up and practicing with the others?"

Finally, Syaoran dropped the papers to his side and met her gaze. His gaze was dangerous. He didn't like what he had heard from Sakura. She didn't even know what he was doing. He had worked very hard to manage and lead the team. It wasn't his fault that a lot of them had decided to quit the team. In fact, he was glad that they left. Those guys weren't so serious about football after all.

"Are you trying to scare our new manager, Li?"

Both Sakura and Syaoran turned around to see Yamazaki standing next to them.

"I don't know what happen between you two," Yamazaki spoke, "but the others are starting to worry."

Syaoran turned and saw that the other members had stopped from whatever they were doing to watch them. He took a step back and waved his hand to the others. The small crowd dispersed and the team went back to practice.

"Did he threaten you to something?" Yamazaki asked her.

Sakura shook her head. "No."

"Don't worry about him," Yamazaki said to Sakura. "Just forget whatever it is that he threatened you with. He's all bark and no bite."

"I'm still here and I can clearly hear what you're saying," Syaoran said.

Yamazaki exchanged a dirty look with Syaoran and returned to Sakura. "He's just not really good with socializing, that's all." He frowned. "I didn't expect that you would sign up as the manager."

Sakura smiled. "I want to give it a try." She turned around when she heard Syaoran muttered something. "You shouldn't eavesdrop to other's conversation, Li. And I'm not planning to quit this position anytime soon. So I guess you'll have to deal with having me around."

When her eyes met with his, she can tell that he was irritated that she wasn't going to quit. But, instead of ignoring him like she was supposed to do, Sakura stuck out her tongue at him.

"Very mature," Syaoran deadpanned.

"It's not very mature to scowl at me all day long either," Sakura said with a shrug.

Syaoran scowled. Then he looked away when he noticed he was doing exactly what she had accused him of, causing Yamazaki to burst into laughter. It was that moment when Terada-sensei decided to make his appearance. He watched the team practicing idly and turned to Syaoran. "Where's Tamura and Chiba?"

Syaoran let out an exasperated sigh. "They haven't showed up for days. Maybe they decided to quit."

Terada let out a sigh. When he saw Sakura, his face brightened up. "I'm glad that you've come," he said to Sakura. "I was worried that you were going to change your mind about this."

Sakura glanced sideways to Syaoran. "I'm not planning to quit when I didn't even start."

"That's the spirit." Terada smiled. "Have you met everyone else?"

"Yes. They have been very welcoming." She glanced towards Syaoran to see if he was going to say anything about her new position to Terada, but he decided mind his business.

Terada waved his hand to call the team to gather up. "I have a few announcements," he spoke when the members gathered around. "I believe that you have been introduced to Kinomoto Sakura. She will be acting as the temporary manager for our team. If you guys treated her nicely, she might consider joining this team as an actual manager."

Sakura bowed at the introduction and the members started to whisper among themselves. There's no denying that they were excited with the news that she might join them as an actual manager.

Yamazaki slapped her lightly on her arms. "Welcome to the club, manager. You'll definitely make this club livelier."

"Um, thanks?"

"Next," Terada spoke. "This is rather sudden news, but I have scheduled you guys to a friendly match with the Oku High School in two weeks."

The team started to panic at the unexpected announcement.

Syaoran crossed his arm on his chest. "But sensei, don't you think that's too sudden?"

"Yes," Yamazaki agreed. "We're not ready. We haven't had enough members for a match. Tamura and Chiba just quit days ago."

"Then you have to get ready," Terada said. "We don't have much time if we're going to compete in the tournament. This is why we are going to recruit more members for the club." he turned to Sakura and Syaoran. "Kinomoto, Li, I hope that you guys can work together to recruit more members."

"We're supposed to recruit and trained the new guys within two weeks?" Sakura looked at Syaoran and noted that for once, he too shared the same opinion as hers. "Terada-sensei, that's crazy."

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**End of Chapter 2: Welcome to the club, manager**

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Thank you so much for reviewing the first chapter. I'm actually quite nervous about posting this story. I think it was hard to write a light romance, comedy fiction again. I'm very grateful for my reader's reviews and alert. Please tell me what you think of the story.


	3. We're Not That Desperate

**Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura isn't mine.**

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**Make You Mine  
Chapter 3: We're Not That Desperate**

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Sakura craned her neck to search for Tomoyo in the midst of people. She smiled once she heard the strumming of the guitar and went towards the direction of the music. She watched as people started to assemble around her cousin and hurried to get to the front.

Then Tomoyo started to sing with the guitar in her hand. It was a cover of Ikimonogakari's Kaze ga Fuiteiru. Her version was different than the original, with her soft, melodic voice. But she managed to attract a large number of crowds in the park. Soon, people were tapping their feet to the music.

Sakura waved to her cousin when the show was over, and people began to disperse. "Tomoyo!" she pulled her into a hug. "That was a great show!"

"Thanks," Tomoyo packed up her guitar as they broke up. "I'm so glad that you made it."

"I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world," Sakura said, nudging at her hand. "I'm always here to support you."

Tomoyo laughed nervously. "I was anxious. I didn't expect that a lot people would turn up. But Hiiragizawa suggest that doing a live show in the park would build my confidence to sing in front of others." She looked around the park and turned to Sakura. "Speaking of Hiiragizawa, have you seen him? He went MIA just as I started to sing."

Sakura shook her head to reply. But soon, Eriol showed up with a can of canned coffee in his hand.

Tomoyo made a face. "Where did you run to? I was scared when I looked up only to find you missing."

"I know," he popped up the can and handed the drink to Tomoyo. "I saw you amidst the viewers. You were great, although you went a little bit off during the second verse." Eriol turned to Sakura and said, "Sorry I didn't get you anything."

Sakura waved a hand. "No worries."

"Because that was when I notice your disappearance," Tomoyo said to Eriol. She took a swig from her drink and frown at the slight bitter taste of her drink. "And you promised you would stay."

"I did," he pointed out. "I saw the whole performance, and I think you're doing great. You're improving. Miss Yamamura would be happy that you almost get over your fear to sing in front of others."

"I'm not afraid of singing in front of others," Tomoyo countered. "I'm just having a nervous breakdown whenever I started to stand on the stage." She turned to Sakura. "Do you know how bright the stage's light was?" she shuddered.

Sakura laughed at her cousin. Tomoyo had always been a great singer. She had very beautiful voice and great talent in music. Tomoyo would be fine if she was to sing in front of the small crowd, or with people she was familiar with. But she would be nervous whenever she had to sing before a larger crowd.

Miss Yamamura, her advisor was worried. This was the first time in a long time that Tomoeda High School has passed the second stage of the competition and everyone would like to see Tomoyo win the competition. That was when Eriol suggested Tomoyo to try and sing in the public as a street performer to help her overcome her fear.

Sakura turned when she saw a few boys in their football jersey in the park. She unintentionally made a face as she remembered the school's football club and the task that Terada-sensei had asked her to do.

She had approached Syaoran the minute their teacher had left, hoping that they could discuss what to be done for the recruitment. But he had completely ignored her. In fact, he had told her to handle the recruitment by herself, considering that she was now the manager of the team.

Sakura knew that Syaoran didn't like her to be part of the team, but she hoped that he would give her a chance. It wasn't that she needed his approval to be in the team. After all, the other guys readily accepted her as their manager. But it was difficult to work as the manager if she can't cooperate with the captain. What about team works?

If only she could show to him that she could be a lot of help to the team. Maybe he would accept her as the manager when he sees how much new recruit she could bring in. That would be great if it was true. But first, she needed a plan.

"So," Eriol spoke up. He saw how Sakura has been gazing towards the boys in the jersey. "How's the football club?"

"It was fine. Well," Sakura shrugged. "The captain of the team, Li, still won't acknowledge me as their manager. And Terada-sensei wanted us to recruit a few more players for the team. They don't have enough members, but Terada-sensei has already set them up for a friendly competition with Oku High School in two weeks," she paused to take a breath. "The problem was, Li refused to work with me. He has been ignoring me the whole time. Acting as if I'm invisible. In the end, he told me to do that recruitment on my own. He said it will be a test to see whether I'm a capable manager or no. Other than that, everything's fine."

Tomoyo exchanged a look of worry with Eriol.\

"Do you need any help?" Tomoyo offered.

"That's alright," Sakura smiled. "I can handle this. I used to be a captain of a cheerleading squad, remember? I know how these things work. Recruiting a few boys to join the team can't be that hard. I'll just need to pass a few flyers and all that. But if you guys know anyone who would like to join the club, that would be great."

"I'm glad that you're taking thing positive," Tomoyo commented.

"I was a former cheerleader. I need to stay positive." Sakura said. She has to be optimistic or she would lose it. She didn't want the people around her to worry so much. Isn't that the whole point of her joining the football team? '"I just wish that Li would be easy with me. It's frustrating that he has been ignoring me."

"Give him time," Eriol said. "He may be a pain to work with, but Li Syaoran is a good man."

**xxx**

Sakura winced as she handed the recruitment flyers to the boys. She saw lots of them immediately threw away their flyers without even looking at it. It was frustrating. Especially since she spent her weekend preparing them.

There are a few of them were excited to join the club, but backed out when they heard that Li Syaoran was the captain of the football club. She did, however, manage to convince a few of her junior to sign up.

"Don't worry too much," Yanagi said. He was a member of the football team. When he saw Sakura stood near the entrance, distributing flyers, he decided to help her. "This leaflet looks amazing. Those guys were idiots," he glanced towards the bin.

Sakura smiled a bit. "Thanks."

"I'm telling the truth. We usually have black and white handouts," he looked at the colorful flyers. "Or no handouts at all. This is a nice change."

Her smile widened. "Thanks Yanagi. I've spent a lot of time for this over the weekend. I'm glad that someone actually acknowledged my work. Unlike your captain. He won't even look at the flyers when I showed it to him earlier." She groaned as she recalled his response.

"Well," Yanagi smiled mischievously. "He's an idiot too."

Sakura laughed at his comment. She tried to convince another junior to sign up and was disappointed when the junior refused at the sight of 'football club' Sakura made a face. "So tell me," she said to Yanagi. "Why are the boys terrified to join the club as soon as they heard Li's name?"

"He isn't exactly friendly," Yanagi pointed out. "I think most people were afraid of him because of the look he gives," he shrugged. "You know his usual scowling, frowning and all that."

Sakura laughed when Yanagi tried to imitate Syaoran's scowl. "Why did he have to be so grumpy all the time?"

"I have no idea. I never know what he was thinking," Yanagi said as he distributes more flyers to the boys. "It's not like we ever had any heart to heart conversation with him. In fact, I can't remember if he ever hangs out with us."

Sakura nodded. "So why haven't you quit the club yet?"

Yanagi sighed. "Because I like football," he smiled a bit. "And it's too late to quit and join another club. Besides, the club isn't that bad if you could ignore Li. The boys were nice. We had fun even though we haven't won any games lately."

Sakura nodded again. She could tell that Yanagi really does like the club and football a lot. Maybe she could talk with the other boys and find out what they were thinking about the club. She decided that she needed to gain more information on the boys if she's going to be a good manager.

**xxx**

Syaoran was in awe as he saw at least fifteen boys decided to join the club. He glanced towards Sakura and saw her grinning. He could tell that she was proud that with the turnout. Syaoran quickly looked away. He didn't need to make the girl a smug. He knew she did a good job in attracting the boys to come to the tryout after two days of distributing flyers, and making announcement every now and then.

He was skeptical at first when Sakura told him her plan to recruit with distributing flyers. He was convinced that no one would show up to the tryout, no matter what they do to attract them. That was how it has been since last year. That was why he decided Sakura to handle everything herself.

But he had taken a good look at the flyers when Sakura wasn't around. It was eye popping. With pictures and colors. He thought that the flyers look good. They never had this kind of stuff when they first join the team. The seniors simply paste the application form on the notice board to recruit. Back then, the football club wasn't as dead as they are now.

"This is a good start," Yamazaki said to him. "I didn't expect that Kinomoto would be able to attract this many people to join the club."

"They probably decided to join once they heard the football club has a female manager," Syaoran pointed out. He was not going to compliment her for her work.

"Still, fifteen people are a lot," Yamazaki said. "We never attract this many people before. You have to admit it," he wiggled his eyebrow at him. "Kinomoto did a great job attracting them to come for the tryout."

Syaoran shrugged. He looked at Sakura again. He knew very well that she was listening to their conversation. "It is impressive," he said without breaking his eye contact with her. "But how many of them were serious about joining the team? And how many were good enough to play?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Gee, captain. A mere 'thank you for your hard work' would suffice." She stepped forward, handed Syaoran the boys' application forms and stormed away in frustration.

Yamazaki watched as Sakura left them to greet the juniors. He saw his chance and pulled him Syaoran to him that they were face to face. "We need them. Whether they're good enough or no, we need them. Or else, how are we supposed to play against Oku next week."

"We're not that desperate."

"Yes, we are," Yamazaki said. "This is the last year for us to play for Tomoeda. We need this. We need them."

Syaoran stared at him, digesting his words. It was true. The team needed the new recruits if they want to play this year. And this is the last chance for some of them to play for Tomoeda. He would hate—they would hate to miss the chance to play any game because of the lack of members.

Syaoran closed his eyes and groaned. "Alright." He turned to head towards the new recruit when he felt Yamazaki's hand on his shoulder. He raised a brow. "What?"

"You need to be nicer to Kinomoto," Yamazaki said. "She's here because Terada-sensei needs her help as the manager. I don't care what you've got against her, but she did her job to recruit the boys. And we didn't do anything to help her with recruiting. Or distributing the flyers."

"I know that," Syaoran made a face. "Alright, alright. I'll try to be nice to her." He turned away from Yamazaki and joined the others in the field. He looked at the new recruits and sighed. He made an introduction and started asking the boys' experience with the sports. He was a bit disappointed when none of them seem to have any experience.

"We have ten days before that match with Oku," Izaki, one of the club members, said in a hushed voice. "How are we going to have a match when the boys have no experience?"

"That's alright," Syaoran said. "We can train them. Besides, it is only a friendly match. We can train a bit more after the match. Who knows? We might be qualified to join the league this year."

The other members looked at each other and shrugged. After all, a few inexperienced members are better than no members at all.

Syaoran asked the new recruits to start warming up and handed the tryout to Yamazaki. He looked around and found Sakura in the bleachers, taking out drinking water out of the box. "Where's Terada-sensei?" he asked to Sakura. He raised a brow when she replied him with a shrug. "Can you find him and tell him about the recruits?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. "I've told him. He said he will be here as soon as he finished with some work."

Syaoran nodded. He was about to say something else, but when she turned around to avoid him, he knew that she was mad at him. "Oh hey," he waited until she turned to him.

"What?" she snapped.

Syaoran bit his lips at her reaction. But then, he said it. "You did a good job, Kinomoto. So," Syaoran trailed. "Thank you for your hard work. I guess."

Sakura frowned at him. She was expecting that his compliment would soon be followed with another mockery. But when she noticed that he wasn't going to say anything else, her frown disappears. She smiled at him, relieved that for once, he wasn't being a jerk to her. "You're welcome."

Syaoran suppressed his grin. He hadn't expected that a simple thank you would change her mood so quickly. He gave her a shrug. "Don't get too excited. You're still on probation."

* * *

**End of Chapter 3: We're Not That Desperate**

* * *

Thank you so much for reviewing the previous chapter. I was supposed to update this story two months ago, but I've been busy. And Worth Fighting For is still my top priority. I'm not really sure where the story was heading yet. But I think I'm going to skip a lot about football (and focus a lot more on the romance part). After all, I'm no expert with this sport. Haha.. Please review and tell me what you think of the story.


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